A shopper focus on health is driving strong growth in the yoghurts category. Gut health is one of the biggest trends convenience retailers should be tapping into, says Biotiful.
The yoghurts category is now worth £2bn [Circana] and has benefited in recent years from alignment with key UK macro trends. There is increasing consumer demand for healthier food in the UK with 71% of consumers now reporting to eat healthily, a number that is growing YOY at 13% [Mintel].
This focus on health is driving strong performance in yoghurts with total market value sales growing at 8% [Circana]. Specific trends such as gut health, natural and protein are driving the majority of this growth as more shoppers opt for less processed, functional yoghurts.
Gut health is one of the biggest trends driving yoghurts with 84% [OnePoll] of people actively managing, or recognising the need to manage, their gut health, with 46% [Mac Research] of those people using kefir to support their gut health needs. As result kefir is currently the fastest growing yoghurts segment, with value growth at 33% [Circana] and volume growth at 31% [Circana]. Total value sales are expected to be £100m by December 2024.
Biotiful is the key driver of kefir’s success. It is the fastest growing brand in total yoghurts, with volume growth at 50% [Circana], and the biggest brand in kefir with a 54% [Circana] share of the segment. This success has been achieved through providing a range of great tasting products using only the highest quality natural ingredients.
The trends driving total yoghurts are also relevant to convenience yoghurts. Kefir is the fastest growing segment in convenience with value growth at 32% [Circana] and volume growth at 28% [Circana].
Incorporating kefir and Biotiful into your yoghurts chiller is essential to benefit from this high growth area and offer your shoppers the high quality products and health benefits they are looking for.
Top Tips to inspire shoppers and help influence purchasing decisions
Stock the key products customers want
Kefir, natural and protein are the best performing yoghurts segments so stock the best sellers from each. Kefir is the fastest growing segment and Biotiful is the fastest growing brand so lead with kefir drinks, Biotiful Original 500ml and Biotiful Cherry 500ml, followed by kefir yoghurts, Biotiful Original 350g and Biotiful Rubie Raspberry 350g, to sign-post the kefir category.
Make key growth products easy to find
Healthier yoghurts are driving the category and are increasingly the first products customers look for. Creating a health destination by placing kefir, natural and protein segments together on the fixture will help shoppers find them more easily, driving higher sales
Manage space per segment
Ensure sufficient fixture space is given to high growth segments such as kefir, natural and protein to ensure enough stock is on shelf to meet demand. Achieve this by reducing space to low growth segments such as diet, immunity drinks and dairy alternatives.
Offer choice through range
Stock products across all segments.This will ensure all shopper missions and occasions are catered for.
Implement recommended planograms and range
The recommended planograms are ideal for any convenience store to use. They provide a best practice layout designed to help shoppers find products easily. The layout flows from healthy segments through to traditional segments which is a design firmly established in larger stores and one which shoppers are familiar with. The recommended range offers a broad range of products, flavours and formats and minimises duplication.
For more information contact Melanie@biotifuldairy.com
